Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said on Friday that he was bombarded with the ‘most vile, disgusting, racist’ voicemails after his star forward, LeBron James, called President Donald Trump a ‘bum’ on Twitter.
‘I didn’t even tell LeBron this. Now he’s going to know,’ Gilbert told CNBC on Friday.
The billionaire founder of Quicken Loans said the messages were ‘some of the most disgusting things I’ve ever heard people say. You could hear it in their voice.’
‘It wasn’t even about the issue. That’s what really got me. They went to who they really are, some of them,’ Gilbert said.
‘There’s an element of racism in this country that I didn’t realize existed.’
When asked if he had a conversation with James about the Twitter feud, Gilbert said: ‘We didn’t have any specific discussions about that.’
Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said on Friday that he was bombarded with the ‘most vile, disgusting, racist’ voicemails after his star forward, LeBron James, called President Donald Trump a ‘bum’ on Twitter
James called the president a ‘bum’ on Twitter Sunday after Trump posted a tweet in which he rescinded an invitation for Stephen Curry and his team, the Golden State Warriors, to visit the White House.
It is customary for teams that win championships in major sports to pay a ceremonial visit to the president.
The Warriors, who beat James’ Cavaliers in the Finals for the second time in three years last June, had been publicly critical of Trump and were waiting to decide as a team if they’d keep with tradition and visit the White House.
But before the team could officially make that decision, Curry was asked for his preference at Friday’s media day.
James (seen above in Independence, Ohio, on Monday) called the president a ‘bum’ on Twitter Sunday after Trump posted a tweet in which he rescinded an invitation for Stephen Curry and his team, the Golden State Warriors, to visit the White House
‘I don’t want to go,’ said Curry, echoing previous statements made by teammate and NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant.
President Trump tweeted Saturday morning: ‘Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!’
Steph Curry (left) and Andre Iguodala (right) of the Golden State Warriors celebrate their second title in three years
‘U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain’t going!’ wrote James. ‘So therefore ain’t no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!’
At the Cavaliers’ media day on Monday, James doubled down on his critical tweet of Trump.
James was asked by a reporter if he’d like to expand on his assessment of the President.
‘Me and my friends call each other [bums] all the time,’ James said. ‘I’m not [Trump’s] friend though. I don’t want to see that. He’s not my friend.’
A laughing James continued to poke fun at the President on Monday.
‘I wasn’t coming anyways,’ said James. ‘That was funny to me when I woke up and saw that.’
President Trump tweeted Saturday morning: ‘Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!’
James went on to say that if ‘you voted for [Trump] or not, you may have made a mistake, and that’s okay.’
‘If you voted for him, it’s okay, he continued. ‘I mean I’ve done things for my kids and realized I shouldn’t have given my daughter that many damn Skittles. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that. She won’t go to sleep now.’
James posted a video to social media on Saturday calling for national unity while explaining that he called President Donald Trump a ‘bum’ earlier in the day because the President was ‘using sports as a platform to divide us.’
‘I think it’s basically at a point where I’m a little frustrated because this guy that we’ve put in charge has tried to divide us once again,’ the Cavaliers star said, adding, ‘he is now using sports as the platform to try to divide us.’